Grocon's maximum fine after wall collapse 'a slap on the wrist'

By Adam Cooper

UpdatedNovember 13, 2014 — 5.49pmfirst published at 5.13pm

Construction giant Grocon faces a maximum fine of $305,000 – a penalty one critic has slammed as "a slap on the wrist" – for pleading guilty to a criminal charge of failing to keep a safe workplace following a wall collapse that killed three people.

Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said on Thursday he was prepared to hear the case against Grocon (Victoria Street) Pty Ltd – one arm of the Grocon group – in Melbourne Magistrates Court rather than refer it to the higher County Court.

The site of the collapse.Credit:Simon O'Dwyer

Siblings Alexander, 19, and Bridget Jones, 18, and French academic Marie-Faith Fiawoo, 33, died when a section of a Swanston Street wall on Grocon's CUB building site in Carlton fell on them in high winds on March 28 last year.

The court had heard Grocon (Victoria Street) Pty Ltd would plead guilty to one charge and that prosecutors from the Victorian WorkCover Authority would drop the remaining five charges against the Grocon group if Mr Rozencwajg opted to hear the case.

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The shrine commemorating three pedestrians killed in the CUB site wall collapse.Credit:Angela Wylie

The magistrate's decision to do so means the company faces a maximum fine of $305,000, well below the maximum fine of $1.1 million applicable in the County Court. Grocon (Victoria Street) Pty Ltd formally entered a plea on Thursday.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Dave Noonan slammed the potential penalty for Grocon as insufficient and was critical that a plea deal had been struck.

"Unfortunately Grocon are likely to receive a mere slap on the wrist, a fine. That means nothing to a multi-million-dollar corporation," he said.

"The union, for its part in campaigning and demonstrating for safety on Grocon sites, has been fined over $1 million, so I think that Victorians today need to reflect on what is the value of safety in the workplace, what is the value of a life?"

Mr Noonan was also critical of WorkCover for failing to prosecute Grocon on more serious charges.

"We think that workers who get killed on Victorian construction sites, and members of the community in this case who have died as a result, frequently don't get justice. We believe [the authority] needs to do a much better job and be properly resourced in doing that job," he said.

Prosecutor Greg Lyon, QC, told the court on Wednesday the authority could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Grocon arms and Aussie Signs – the company contracted to attach an 80-metre advertising hoarding to the wall – caused the wall to fall.

Mr Lyon said the companies failed to assess the safety of the wall when the hoarding was attached, which contributed to the risk the wall would fall.

Aussie Signs began a committal hearing before Mr Rozencwajg on Thursday. The company is yet to enter a plea.

WorkCover OHS inspector Barry Dunn told the hearing he attended the site while the hoarding was being attached and saw nothing dangerous or inappropriate.

WorkCover investigator Russell Ames said he was at the scene after the wall collapsed and saw a "bow" and lack of symmetry within the double brick wall that was left standing.

Mr Rozencwajg, in announcing his reasoning for hearing the case against Grocon (Victoria Street) Pty Ltd, said the case was one with "tragic consequences" and that he was conscious of providing "closure and finality" to the families of Mr Jones, Ms Jones and Ms Fiawoo.

The maximum fine of $305,000 was an "ample penalty" for a company that pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a safe workplace, the magistrate said.

A plea hearing for is scheduled for next Thursday.

Grocon said in a statement its "deepest sympathies remain with the families and all those affected by this tragedy".

The committal hearing for Aussie Signs will continue on Friday. A builder who was subcontracted by Aussie Signs and who is also being prosecuted, by the Victorian Building Authority, is expected to be among the witnesses called.